Altered Paces
by EmeraldLily501
Summary: Voldemort was defeated three years ago, but Harry paid a price he wasn't willing to pay, and the guilt forced him to leave the country. Now, three years later, he's ready to return, but what he didn't realize is that maybe his past isn't ready for him.
1. Prologue

**Altered Paces**

**Summary:** The Final Battle ended three years ago, and everything changed. Voldemort is gone forever, but Harry paid a price he wasn't sure he was ready to pay. For three years, he was out of the country trying to put his life back together, but now he's ready to return. What he didn't put into consideration was the fact that his past wasn't ready for him.

**Disclaimer: **Nothing belongs to me, of course. Must I even say it?

Prologue

It was almost as if the sleeping town of Godric's Hollow had disappeared completely. The abandoned houses drifted into the background and only the light of the spells illuminated the grimy windows. Battle was raging to the left and right, but the only thing Harry saw was the man, the man who ruined his life as well as so many others, the most evil man to ever walk the earth, standing in front of him, malice in his fiery eyes. He was breathing heavily, but he didn't pay any attention. All he knew was that the last few minutes of one of the two wizards lives were coming to a close. His lips parted in spontaneous mimicry of his opponents, and the unspeakable words were spoken, both echoing through the air that suddenly turned silent. The battle was over. One of them was going to die, and neither realized that the other had muttered the same spell….

Everyone on the battlefield heard the identical words, and everyone knew what was happening. They were both going to die. The boy-who-lived was seconds from falling, but so was the soulless man who ruined the wizarding world. Ron was the first to notice, and he was the quickest thinker. Harry had to live. Without a backward glance, he dove in front of Harry, saving his best friend's life.

It's been three years since Harry Potter left the country to live in a place where his name wasn't as well known. It isn't plausible for a man to live through so many tragic events, but Harry did. All he needed was a few years away to gather his strength and sort his life out. No one heard from him, not even Ginny Weasley. Finally, put the pieces of his life back in order and was ready to return, a changed man, and pick up where he left off. What he didn't realize was that life went on while he was away, and everything he had held on to, the only things that kept him from joining Ron every day, was out of his grasp. Everything changed.


	2. Back to Square One

**Altered Paces**

**Summary:** The Final Battle ended three years ago, and everything changed. Voldemort is gone forever, but Harry paid a price he wasn't sure he was ready to pay. For three years, he was out of the country trying to put his life back together, but now he's ready to return. What he didn't put into consideration was the fact that his past wasn't ready for him.

**Disclaimer: **Nothing belongs to me, of course. Must I even say it?

Chapter 1 

The wind whipped the hem of the midnight blue robes around the wizards feet, but he paid no mind. The clouds above were so thick that the moon was completely obscured, as were the many stars that usually lit the night in the small town of Godric's Hollow. It was almost as dark as the last time his footsteps graced the ground he was now standing so rigidly on.

Not a soul had dared try to renovate the quaint village after that fateful night of August 11th, 1998. Only a few even entered to locate the nameless bodies of the victims of war. Ron Weasley was one of those bodies, but nameless he was not. Many made sure of that.

In war, everyone's a hero. Every single witch or wizard who died died in the glory of utter defeat, but one always goes above and beyond. One alone is considered worthy of keeping his or her name after death, and this was the case in this certain battle. The name of the person who would go down in history books for ages was Ronald Bilius Weasley, and he deserved every letter.

The thought of the man who stood by his side from day one struck Harry with the same force he had become so accustomed to. He only felt a dull ache now, because a person's heart can only tear so many times before it hardens.

Harry turned quickly on his heel, looking away from where it all started and where it all ended. His parents home was left untouched after the first downfall of Voldemort so many years prior, but it was completely changed now. The debris had been blown away, and the remains were blasted to oblivion in the Final Battle. Nothing was left but a patch of dead grass, gray in color even in the light of Harry's illuminated wand. This was where he was to start his life. It all happened here, and no matter how much it hurt him to be in such a place, he knew he could never spend his life anywhere else. Leaving any relic of his past intact wasn't a salutation. It was simply a reminder, and all reminders were slowly being disposed of. To move on, you must move away, otherwise you'll only be stretching to reach a higher place, but your feet will keep you attached to the past and will always pull you back down.

None were aware of Harry Potter's sudden return to civilization. In fact, no one knew what had happened to him after Ron's funeral back in August of the same year. He didn't speak a word, but he was the first to arrive and the last to leave the grave site of the closest friend he ever had. Many had tried to talk to him, but he graciously denied conversation, though that was probably the biggest mistake of his life.

The clouds had parted in the early hours of the morning to reveal a glimmering sun residing over the dewy grasses of Godric's Hollow. It was this factor that awoke the sleeping Potter from his troubled slumber. His cloak was draped over him as if it would actually keep him warm, but he was soaked through and through. A quick drying charm solved this problem, but no number of spells could solve his next troubles.

He knew what he had to do, and he knew he was going to follow through on it. He wouldn't raise a family anywhere but Godric's Hollow, the place he should have known as a child. But to raise a family, you must have a house, and there was a major lack in this category when it came to Harry.

Building a home is much easier wizarding-style, and he knew he could complete it in one hard days work, so he instantly got started. He had all the materials he needed around him. The houses, protected from rot by the magical spells their previous occupants cast on them, were ready to be torn down, bit by bit to build the mansion that Harry held in his head.

I would tell you of the long, difficult work building this house was, and I could go into detail of every thought that travelled through the man's head, but I fear I would bore you. All you need to know is that by the time the Spring sun set behind the distant horizon, a house worthy of the richest man alive stood before Harry Potter. Yet it was completely empty.

Harry didn't plan on filling this house quite yet. He still had a few things to check up on before he decided what belonged and what didn't. But he had a place to return to, should he need to, and the first stepping stone to Harry's great plan was in place. Now he just had to place a few more and the rest would be history. Of course, it wasn't as easy as he thought.


	3. A Confrontation of Sorts

**Altered Paces**

**Summary:** The Final Battle ended three years ago, and everything changed. Voldemort is gone forever, but Harry paid a price he wasn't sure he was ready to pay. For three years, he was out of the country trying to put his life back together, but now he's ready to return. What he didn't put into consideration was the fact that his past wasn't ready for him.

**Disclaimer: **Nothing belongs to me, of course. Must I even say it?

Chapter 2

Ginny Weasley sat cross-legged on the floor, leaning her back against the legs of her current boyfriend, Ashton Livingston. She was reading away, a muggle book called 'The Great Gatsby', while he sat above her, pretending to read over her shoulder. Really, he was staring at her, watching her eyes zoom across the page and catching the emotion change as she read each line. Ashton could tell you exactly what was going on in the story without picking it up once. He knew Ginny's facial expressions back to front, but anyone would if they spent as much time as he did with her.

She was totally wrapped up in her book that she barely noticed any thing else going on around her. She knew Ashton was watching her, but in a very subconscious way. When she read a book, she read a book, and nothing got in her way. She didn't used to be this way. It wasn't until Harry left that she discovered the escape route hidden in every single book she picked up.

She had never been more in love with anyone in her life than she was with Harry Potter, so when he disappeared, she was devastated. All she could think of was his silent image, dressed in nothing but black on the hill of the cemetery, eyes void of everything. It scared her. It scared her so much to look in his eyes and see nothing but a deep, undying darkness. He looked so like Sirius.

As she reached the last few words of the chapter, the doorbell in the front of her muggle apartment rang and brought her out of her reverie, but only for a moment. She barely had time to say, "Ashton, you wanna get that?" before she was sucked right back in. In fact, he didn't need to waste time pulling his legs carefully from behind her, because she didn't even notice her back hitting the hard leg of the couch.

Ashton flipped the light on in the hallway as he made his way towards the front door. He didn't know who might be at Ginny's front door, but it could be any number of people. He was always so surprised at how many people knew her. If it wasn't her closest friend, Hermione Granger, at the door, it was one of her family members, or even an ex-boyfriend. He was jealous beyond belief. Here he was, a man fresh from America who knew no one, and he was more in love with Ginny than anyone understood, yet she didn't have the time to spend with him. Or at least that's how he saw it.

He looked through the peephole quickly, but he didn't recognize the man standing outside. He slipped the lock off and opened the door slowly, allowing himself to fall against the doorframe. "Yeah?" he asked in a deep, somewhat offended voice of the strange looking man standing outside his door. He looked vaguely familiar, but Ashton didn't think much of it.

- - -

Harry flattened his hair as best he could as he heard footsteps approaching inside the house. It had been much easier than he thought it would be to find where Ginny lived. Even out of school, she was quite the social butterfly. Tom of the Leaky Cauldron could instantly give Harry directions to her flat. Of course he recognized the boy-who-lived right away, but one meaningful glance from Harry told him that he should keep it quite, and he did, of course.

So, the day after the re-building of Godric's Hollow, he set out to re-build a much more important part of his life. Every single day he regretted leaving Ginny without a last word, but it didn't seem to hard at first. He was gone for an entire year, seeing no one but Ron and Hermione. Up until Ron's funeral, he was lost to the general public, and sadly, Ginny was part of that ignorant group, though she did know more that most. Ron's funeral was the first time they had spoken since the fateful night at Bill and Fleur's wedding. While the party raged into the night, Ginny and Harry found solitude in one of the upstairs bedrooms, and they spent a night together neither could easily forgot.

So, here he was, preparing himself for the first real conversation with Ginny Weasley in four years. As the footsteps approached, the lump in his throat grew. Seconds before the door was opened, a rock dropped into his stomach. He came to the horrid realization that he wasn't prepared for this conversation at all. He wasn't ready to confront the only woman he ever loved. He hadn't even though about this! His entire wall came crashing around him. Every plan he thought was so well figured out seemed so naive. The pressure was killing him, but the door still opened...

Relief swept over Harry as a male figure answered the door. He was tall, skinny, and obviously American by his accent. His bleach blonde hair was long and was swept to the side, covering half of one of his deep blue eyes. To Harry, he looked like a silly boy, though his voice and attitude gave away that he couldn't be more than a year younger than Harry himself. He was still on the verge of collapsing, but excuses were rapidly being formed in his mind.

Obviously he had the wrong house. Ginny didn't live here after all. She probably lived miles away and Harry could go sit in his empty house and contemplate what in the world he was to do for as many weeks as he wished. He let out a deep breath before he realized that he had been standing in silence for quite some time, and immediately he began talking.

"Oh, well, I thought someone lived here who I really need to see, but I guess I have the wrong address. Sorry to bother you," he said. He felt so strong up until now. He felt older, almost superior to his former self, but when the thought of Ginny Weasley came to mind, he felt like the child he was the last time he spoke with her. His defenses fell, and he was nothing more than a boy who fell in love with his best friend's sister.

He was halfway turned around when Ashton spoke up. "Wait, I don't own this place. Are you looking for Ginny?" He was obviously struggling against his better judgment when he told Harry this, and he instantly recognized it. It was causing Ashton a great pain to openly allow another man to talk to his girl.

Harry nodded solemnly, and though his heart was racing and his mind was fighting to make his feet run away, his heart won and he walked up to the door and stepped inside. He knew he had to talk to Ginny Weasley today, and nothing was going to stop him.

Ginny was so engrossed in her book that she almost didn't come out front to meet her visitor, but something made her put her book down and walk to the front door. Her mind was still wandering the pages of Gatsby's life, but all thoughts of her novel were swept from her mind as she turned the corner and spotted the man she thought she would never see against standing in her doorway. She stood in shock for a moment, staring at Harry Potter, and then her knees collapsed and she nearly fell to the floor. Little did she know that Harry was doing the same thing, just not physically.


	4. Oh, What a Reunion

**Altered Paces**

**Summary:** The Final Battle ended three years ago, and everything changed. Voldemort is gone forever, but Harry paid a price he wasn't sure he was ready to pay. For three years, he was out of the country trying to put his life back together, but now he's ready to return. What he didn't put into consideration was the fact that his past wasn't ready for him.

**Disclaimer: **Nothing belongs to me, of course. Must I even say it?

Chapter 3 

To Ginny, seeing Harry was like seeing someone rise from the dead. For some reason, the poor girl had convinced herself that Harry had left and was never going to return, and that she best get over it before she let the idea take over her life. You see, Ginny believed that the faster she moved on, the sooner he would leave her thoughts, so the instant she came to this realization, she found herself a boyfriend.

Ashton was only going to be a rebound, but it didn't take much for the heartbroken girl to fall in love with him. He was tall, charming, and American. Not to mention she hadn't met a more handsome wizard in her entire life. He fell in love the moment he laid eyes on her, and the rest was history. Everyone expected they would be married soon enough.

But now back to the story. No matter how ignorant Ginny's plan for getting over Harry may seem, it worked. She still had nightmares about him, yes, and certain things reminded her of him, but Ashton was the man she loved now, and Harry was a thing of the past. She built walls around herself, blocking out every thought of her past love, and let herself forget about him. So, seeing the man she considered 'dead' standing in front of her was a bit of a shock. She wasn't ready for this. She was happily frolicking through her own world just a few moments ago in "The Great Gatsby", but now reality hit her full force in the face, and she didn't know if she could stand the blow.

"Ha-Harry?" she choked out. There was a lump in her throat, but she hardly noticed. She didn't really recollect much of her surroundings, actually. The hall and table slid away, as did the walls and Ashton with them. They disintegrated into the back of her mind, and the only thing she could see was the-boy-who-lived, standing in his full glory in front of her.

Harry wasn't having the easiest time, either. He was, of course, a little more prepared than Ginny, but he found his entire world started swirling around him when she said his name. Memories were flooding back to him and he couldn't stop them, and if he were any less dignified of a person, he would most likely be tearing up right about now. He stared down at Ginny, catching her eyes and not letting go. He could see her entire life tear into pieces through the blue, and his stomach lurched into his throat from the guilt. He shouldn't be here.

"Hello, Ginny," he said in a calmed voice. His body was screaming, yet here he was, speaking to Ginny like they were just about to enjoy a pleasant cup of tea. She shook at his voice, but it was hardly noticeable. "I-I've come back,"

His sentence ended weakly, as if he regretted what he was saying when he was halfway through. Ginny tensed up and allowed herself to stand taller, firmer, but she was still shaking inside.

"I can see..." she replied, keeping her voice as level as possible. Things were starting to come into focus around her, and at that moment she remembered Ashton. She let out a soft 'Oh' as she spotted the look on his face. He was a jealous person, and it was etched over his entire visage that he didn't like the looks of this Harry figure. Ginny didn't think another second. She didn't think of her perfectly set up world that was falling to pieces around her. She didn't think of her heart, which was now furiously tearing at the walls that she placed around herself the second Harry left her. All she thought about was what she had, and how she couldn't let a person from her past ruin her plans, no matter how important that person was.

She sent an apologetic look Ashton's way, and with every ounce of strength she had in her, she turned to Harry with a blank stare. It tore her to pieces, and she had to resist everything her body was telling her, but with a swift, strong swing of her arm, Harry was standing back outside the door and her hand was on the knob.

"I'm sorry, I don't think you belong here," she said simply, though she was screaming inside. Without a second glance, she closed the door on Harry and on her dreams.

- - -

Harry felt as if the gust of wind the door created could have simply blown him away. Three minutes had already passed, but he stayed rooted to the spot, not a thought crossing his mind. He'd stopped thinking the moment the locked clicked inside, because he found that thinking only hurt. He thought he could stay out there on Ginny's doorstep until he melted into the mat and became one with the house, but the coldness was beginning to eat into him, chilling him to the bone. This and only this caused Harry to move his sleeping feet and turn to stare into the world that suddenly seemed so pointless.

His whole body was lead, but he just walked. He focused all his energy on each movement each second and didn't allow his mind to wander further than that. It wasn't much of a battle, though, since his head was completely empty. He lifted his foot, he moved it, he lowered it, and he picked up the next. He probably looked like a robot, but not a soul in the world was watching Harry Potter at that exact moment, so the truth will never be known.

Inside the home, the chilling cold had penetrated through the walls and was attacking only Ginny. Of course she wasn't as thoughtless as Harry. Ashton was still there, a million thoughts zooming through his head at hyper speed, and she had to accommodate his confusion. With an apologetic smile, she turned to him.

"Oh, he was just an old friend," she said, but the confusion only spread on the jealous boy's face. He tried to question her on why she would push an 'old friend' out the door like that, but she only smiled and nodded, not listening to anything he was saying.

Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived, the conqueror of all evil, had returned. She almost smiled at the thought that he went to her house, out of everyone he knew, first, but it didn't stay long. She started to think about what she did and tried to reason why, in fact, she did it, but nothing came instantly to mind and the pain of lingering on that subject was too much, so she let herself slip into a kind of subdued day-dreaming state, where he mind wandered from one pointless topic to the next.

Meanwhile, Harry had finally reached 'home' and was planning his next visit. He wiped the encounter with Ginny from his mind and fancied that he hadn't, in fact, ventured into the wizarding world at all. Tomorrow it was time to visit the second most important person in his life, and she definitely wouldn't slam the door in his face.

Hermione Granger had become a bit of a stranger to everyone she used to know. Life took a turn for her after Harry left, and her plans were crushed as she was spun into a different direction by a series of events. The day of Ron's funeral, Hermione discovered something she didn't believe was possible. She was late, and she was never late. Never. But they had used protection...the best spells out there, in fact. Of course there is the chance that she performed them incorrectly...but that was so unlikely.

Something went wrong, though, because nine months later, Elise Granger was born, and a beautiful baby she was. Hermione was sure this was going to end her life as she knew it. How could she pursue her ambition of working along side Minerva McGonagall with a child to take care of? But then another twist came into play.

Just when Hermione thought everything was over, when she lost her best friend, her life's ambition, and all hope of becoming successful, Alexander Harrington moved to town. He was a high-paid ministry worker from Spain who was transferred to Britain to work in the Department of International Magical Cooperation as a correspondent in International Magical Trading Standards Body. He was tall, dark, and handsome, not to mention brilliant, and he was the talk of the office.

It just so happened that the day he was transferred, Hermione Granger was searching for a secretary position. No one thought the most brilliant girl in her year would be reduced to working as a secretary for a successful businessperson, but a child changes everything. Her life was ruined for those three seconds after she was denied, once again, but then something different happened. Alexander, heads turning as he walked, approached Hermione Granger and the two instantly fell in love. Well, not quite, but they were sure they were at the time. He hired her up as his personal assistant, and it took only two months for the two to be in a steady relationship. Today, a proposal is certainly only around the corner, and everyone knows it.

Except Harry Potter, of course. Ginny may have changed, but Harry was sure that Hermione would be at the address Tom the bartender gave Harry, sitting alone working herself to death over a complicated job that only she would be qualified for. Yep, Hermione would be exactly the same.


End file.
